Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Less than two months after getting
off the earth with the first test of its flying car, and looking forward to a client
product later this year, Terrafugia Inc. in Woburn has taken in $1 million in
equity out of a $3.5 million contribution, according to federal filings.

The company - the name of which is resulting
from the Latin phrase “escape the Earth,” according to go the website - is said
to be privately-funded by “a complicated group of accredited person investors.”
Listed on the most recent filing are three directors who have been on the last
few filings Lindsay Weaver Jr., previous Lernout & Hauspie division
president Koen Bouwers and Semyon Dukach, a serial capitalist and former
president of the MIT Blackjack team.

The corporation was founded in 2006
by CEO Carl Dietrich, COO Anna Mracek Dietrich, Technical Fellow Samuel
Schweighart, and U.S. Marine Corps Reserves Maj. Alex B. Min. It has raised
more than $7 million in equity since 2007, according to filings with the
Securities and Exchange charge. The most topical was $960,000 in December 2010.

Last June, the company won special building
exemptions from the National Highway Traffic Safety management for its flying
car. The exemptions include use of a polycarbonate material instead of standard
coated safety glass used in cars, and the use of tires reliable with its
vehicle weight and highway speed driving supplies, but that do not typically
align with tire necessities for
multi-purpose vehicles.

The corporation said at the time
that the exemptions were the first time the NHTSA has made such dispensations
for a flying-driving vehicle.

On March 23, the company reported
that it had a winning test flight of its Transition Street-Legal Airplane in
Plattsburgh, N.Y. The two-seat individual aircraft model is able to drive on
roads and highways, park in a single car garage, and fly with unleaded
automotive fuel, according to the company. The flight reached an elevation of
1,400 feet and lasted eight minutes.